Despite many programs for the recycling of plastic bottles and aluminum cans, a large number of these items are still disposed of in the municipal garbage from households and businesses. In order to reduce the volume of solid waste generated by the inclusion of such bouyant containers in the garbage, an alternative usage for the containers would be of great value and interest. Since the containers float, a possible usage would be in flotation devices assembled from modular components. Such devices could be assembled and disassembled easily at home or any other convenient location. If used for personal recreational pleasure, these devices could be an incentive for the recycling of plastic bottles, aluminum cans, or other bouyant used containers.
Use of plastic bottles or aluminum cans in floating pontoons or docks has been described in the literature and discussed below.
Leverton in U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,803 discloses the use of beverage cans sealed in a cylindrical plastic tubes as a pontoon. Watertightness depends on adequate sealing of the tubes.
Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,775 Northam, et al. use sealed plastic bottles enclosed in a hollow outer shell to make a flotation device.
Moore in U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,367 shows the use of cans secured together within a skin as walls for a water-traversing vehicle. This vehicle is preferably stabilized by balloons.
Chester et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,929 describes a docking system comprised of modules with walls containing plastic containers joined together and to the inside of the hollow containers which make the outer walls.
Rubinsak et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,317 use floating buckets sealed into a pontoon float structure with air-tight snap lids which are permanently bolted to the structure.
None of these references suggest the use of cans and bottles for personal recreational flotation devices such as floating mattresses, rafts, or baby seats. Additional uses not suggested include bouys and bumpers for boats or docks. Further, none of these devices have difficult-to-break integrally incorporated attachment sites with airtight sealing. The present invention overcomes this and other problems in the prior art.